Classroom Poetry 101 Revisited I live like a poet, I’ll die that Dylan — who recently like a poet.’ Then later released his fourteenth he’ll say, ‘I’m a song­and­ compilation album, Tell dance man. It’s about the Tale Signs: Bootleg Series music, not the words.’” Vol. 8, adding to thirty­two Lee Feiner (COM’12) studio albums and thirteen flips open the course’s live releases — has plenty to main textbook, Bob teach aspiring writers and Dylan Lyrics, 1962–2001, critics. “The words of the stops on the 1962 song lyrics are very, very good,” “Rambling, Gambling he says, “and it would be Willie,” and recites a good for students to think few lines. “It’s so well about the ways in which an thought out,” he says. artist comes up with words “He shows poetic instinct that are at once surprising that you’re not going to and just.” find in a lot of poetry, In the same stanza of that you just can’t teach. “Idiot Wind,” Barents notes, To deny him the title of the late poet Allen Ginsberg poet is just not fair.” once singled out Dylan’s Feiner says that when rhyming of “skull” and he saw in the course “capitol” for special description that they praise. “Not only does it would dissect Dylan’s sound good, but there’s a lyrics through the correlation between those seminal Blood on the two things,” Barents says. Tracks, he jumped at the “It’s suggestive in terms of chance. “Because of the government and brains, the Uncovering the genius way poetry was presented shapes of the building and and artistry of Bob Dylan’s lyrics to me in high school, I have the skull, the whiteness. never been in love with it,” Good rhymes force us to pay Kevin Barents clears ents encourages in his he says. “I figured there is no attention to the connection his throat and reads from freshman writing seminar better way to enjoy poetry between words.” the ninth stanza of Bob Bob Dylan’s Lyrics. Bar­ and writing than through In the end, Barents wants Dylan’s “Idiot Wind,” off ents’s idea is to teach un­ an artist I’ve grown up lis­ to hear his literary charges the 1975 album Blood on the derclassmen the mechan­ tening to.” discuss not only imagery and Tracks. “Idiot wind, blowing ics and artistry of good The course also uses metaphor in Dylan songs, like a circle around my poetry and writing (not Dylan’s Visions of Sin, by but poetic elements such skull.” Barents pauses and to mention rock leans back in his chair. criticism) by marrying Allen GinsberG once sinGled out dylAn’s “‘Idiot wind,’ I claim, is a the curriculum to one rhyminG of “skull” And “cApitol” for prAise. separate line, so if you look of songwriting’s most at it this way, this is perfect engaging and prolific literary critic Christopher as synecdoche, synesthesia, iambic pentameter, and it’s practitioners. His students Ricks, BU’s William M. and and metonymy, and how got trochaic substitutions start the semester discussing Sara B. Warren Professor each contributes to the in the first three feet, which the definitions of poetry and of the Humanities. Barents whole. “I’m not sure how means instead of unstressed song and debating whether describes the book as “a many of my students will stressed, it’s stressed un­ Dylan’s words, isolated from 500­page explication of be pursuing poetry in the stressed,” the College of Arts the music, are worthy of Dylan’s songs that treats future,” Barents says. “But & Sciences lecturer says. comparison to some of the them every bit as seriously a lot of them will be taking “Having those trochees in best poetry in the English as an explication of Milton literature courses here at the beginning creates a more language. or Blake.” In fact, it was BU, and I hope this will forceful approach to the “As usual, Dylan himself the elevation of Dylan’s make them more prepared line, almost like the gale it’s is of no help in answering academic credibility by and more articulate when describing.” this,” Barents says. “At one Ricks that prompted Barents they get to Tennyson or It’s this sort of treatment moment, he says it’s all to propose the course in Byron and people like that.” of Dylan’s catalog that Bar­- about the words: ‘I’m a poet. the first place. Ricks agrees CALEB DANILOFF 10 BOSTONIA Winter 2008–2009 ILLUSTRATIon by thorIna rOSE.